WYCC 2015 Rd8-9: Rise and fall of the leaders

The day of round nine started with bright sun, and was a welcome change from the cold
weather of the previous days

The venue and playing hall looked that much more attractive in the sunny day

The massive main playing hall

On the wall behind there is a display of the many nations present

Let the games begin!

Sara Temmerman in Girls Under-16 flashes Belgium's colors proudly

Decisions, decisions

Datharam Aarti in the Girls Under-10 has been the most successful of the South Africans
competing in Porto Carras

Helping supervise the huge number of players is a team of arbiters from
all around, such as this arbiter wearing the traditional garb from his home Angola

A loss can be oh-so-painful...

...and the arbiters are the first to console.

Many of the children are accompanied by their parents. Here is the Singh family.
Proud father Dalip with Hersh Singh who is playing in the Boys Under-10, and
Aradh Kaur competing in the Girls Under-8.

Accompanying Hailey Bruintjies from South Africa are her grandparents

Laura Unuk represents Slovenia in the Girls Under-16 and has been
unable top reproduce her form in 2014 when she actually took gold
in the very same division. Blonds have more fun?

Stavroula Tsolakidou is also back in the Girls Under-16, where she took silver
in 2014 (and won gold in the Girls Under-14 in 2013). She and her compatriot
Anastasia Avramidou are both with 7.0/9, just a half point behind the leaders.

The leader of the Girls Under-16 is Fiona Sieber from Germany, tied for
first with 7.5/9. She got there by not only beating the Greek phenom,
but also defeating the previous leader, Bakhora Abdusattorova.

Mahalakshmi M from India is certainly one of the competition's biggest surprises. It isn't
just that she is ranked 32nd with a modest 2019 rating, but that she is dominating the
Girls Under-18 absolutely mercilessly with 8.0/9.

Belgium's FM Nicola Capone is currently ranked 10th in the Boys Under-16.
His chances for a medal are slight, but he is still on his way to becoming one
of a handful of grandmasters from Belgium, whose names include O'Kelly
(also a World Correspondence Champion) and Luc Winants.

The domination of Egyptian FM Adham Fawzy (2483) ended in round nine, as he slipped
to second when he lost to the new leader...

... untitled Zhandos Agmanov from Kazakhstan. Zhandos is a true Cinderella story
in this event as he not only leads the Boys Under-16, but started ranked 69(!) with
a mere 2167 rating. However, consider that his last eight opponents were all rated
a minimum of 2372 against whom he scored 6.5/8. So far he is slated to win 200 Elo.

Masoud Mosadeghpour seems to not only enjoy great play, but has a powerful
guardian angel as well. In the last two rounds, the Iranian has found himself in
extremely precarious positions, but instead of earning two eggs to make an
omelette, he drew one and won the other to continue his reign with 8.5/9.

What can one say?

Emilia-Florentina Coman is playing for Romania in the Girls Under-14

What do you do while waiting for your kids to finish their games?

What could be better than chess but chess with yoga?

The Boys Under-12 was thrown completely out of whack when this young man,
Sarin Nihal (2096 FIDE), defeated top-seed and leader FM Nodirbek Abdusattorov
(2432 FIDE) in round nine. Bear in mind that Sarin won the Boys Under-10 in 2014
ahead of the Uzbek player. As a result, the Indian is now in second.

In first place, edging out the Indian on tiebreak so far, is Iranian Alireza
Firouzja, who has had a sterling competition and leads with 7.5/9

Even Vincent Keymer, can theoretically take home a medal, though it will be
a very hectic sprint to the end. He and six others stand at 7.0/9, while three
are at 7.5/9. In round ten, he will face his greatest challenge: FM Abdusattorov.

Bulgarian Nurgyul Salimova arrived as the clear top-seed of the Girls
Under-12 and is one of the few favorites to be able to also be in the
top position at this point. She leads with a powerful 8.0/9.

Song Yuxin is the clear leader in the Girls Under-10 with 8.0/9. She
beat the top two seeds in rounds seven and eight.

Rochelle Wu arrived from the United States as one of the unrated players in the Girls Under-10,
ranked 110th, but has done remarkably well, and has 6.0/9 in 8th place.

During round eight, the photographer and chess dad, Reint Dykema took a boat to Neos Marmaras

Neos Marmara is a picturesque village on the Sithonia peninsula in Greece

Since Hanri Engelbrect finished her game early in round eight, she went with him to Neos
Marmaras and was the model for the trip

In the evening the sunsets can be spectacular

Medal ranks after round nine

All photos by Reint Dykema

About the photographer Reint Dykema is a passionate chess dad. Both his two sons Dirkho and Joshua compete this year in the World Youth championships. This is the third World Youth that Dykema has the opportunity to take photos and work closely with ChessBase. In last year's World Youth championship in Durban, Dykema was the official photographer. Over weekends he is also a wedding photographer when he is not taking photos in the local tournaments in South Africa.

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